Supertots Day Nursery

A sleep room for babies, singing and signing for older children, and weekend adventures with a cuddly animal give Supertots Day Nursery a recognisable character. There is a clear progression here: care shaped around a baby's home routine develops into increasingly structured days, with language, movement and preparation for school taking a larger part as children grow.

At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, with positive findings about communication, partnerships with parents and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The improvement point was practical: children needed more opportunities to manage things independently, including access to the toilet.

Supertots has capacity for 86 children, accepting ages from 3 months to 5 years, at 191 Edenfield Road, Rochdale, OL11 5AF. Attendance choices include full days, shorter days and morning or afternoon sessions. The strongest reasons to consider it are the different environments for successive stages, regular visiting activity providers and several ways for parents to contribute to children's learning.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby & Toddler Unit starts with babies aged 3 months and above who are not yet mobile, offering sensory exploration and routines informed by home life, with an adjoining changing area and a sleep room. Mobile babies move into the toddler provision until around 18 months, where messy play and opportunities to choose activities become more prominent. That distinction recognises development as well as age: a child beginning to move needs a different arrangement from one who is not yet mobile.

Tiny Tots room takes children from around 18 months to two-and-a-half years, combining a large play space with an adjoining sensory room, toilets, changing facilities and access outside, alongside a more structured daily rhythm. Rising 3's serves children from two-and-a-half to over three, with an imagination room, a messy room and an outdoor area usable in different weather, allowing children to move between activities during the day.

Pre-school begins in the September before children leave for school, pairing a large room divided into learning areas with a separate language and literacy room for twice-daily key-group work. Its emphasis is more explicitly school-facing. Reading books and development-appropriate home activities extend learning beyond nursery, while teachers are invited to meet children before their move onwards.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the day through areas of learning, with play, children's interests and their next developmental steps informing activities. This is the shared early-years framework; Supertots adds specific visiting sessions and its own planning routines. Individual star sheets are revisited every four to six weeks, helping practitioners connect longer-term intentions with daily choices and activities.

For toddlers, Moo Music brings a weekly term-time session built around singing, dancing and play. Tiny Tots room has weekly term-time Zumba, a dance session that gives movement a regular place in the week. These are concrete additions to everyday play, rather than simply programme names attached to the nursery's offer.

Rising 3's combines weekly term-time Zumba with multi-sports from Kixx Rochdale and Eliza Says - Singing and Signing, which introduces signs through songs, rhymes and play. Pre-school also has weekly term-time dance, football with Kixx Rochdale and singing and signing. For families, the useful distinction is the progression: the sports offer changes from multi-sports to football, while communication through signing continues across the older stages.

Outdoor and Community Life

The main outdoor space is accessible across the age groups between 9.30am and 4.45pm, with separate areas for younger children and Rising 3's. Outdoor access is therefore part of the environment as well as an activity on the timetable. Rising 3's has its own all-weather space, giving children another way to move between indoor and outdoor play.

Small responsibilities and home connections add personality. Rising 3's children help care for their guinea pig, Boris, while Dottie, a cuddly dog, goes home with a child each weekend for a photo diary. Tiny Tots has Claude, a cuddly cat, and Pre-school has Rainbow bear. These shared diaries give children something personal to talk about and parents a direct contribution to nursery life.

Relationships and Communication

Key-family relationships help practitioners plan around individual children. Before a child starts, All about me meetings gather information about their needs and development; this gives parents a place to explain familiar routines and interests rather than expecting staff to discover everything afterwards. For babies, reflecting home routines is an explicit part of the care arrangement.

Blossom Educational Parent App connects home and nursery through learning records, daily timelines and observations parents can send themselves. Parents can also update children's interests and personal information. That two-way exchange matters: an activity enjoyed at home can inform what happens next at nursery, rather than communication being limited to a finished account of the day.

There are two parents' evenings each year, alongside stay-and-play opportunities and invitations for parents to share occupations or hobbies. A newsletter arrives through Blossom each term-time Friday, combining photographs and updates with reminders about events. The app, meetings and newsletter serve different purposes, giving families both routine information and space for a fuller discussion.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that information gathered before children started helped settling, and that collaboration with other agencies supported children with SEND to make good progress. Current arrangements include a SENCO role held by the general manager and a SEN Support Practitioner in Pre-school. These are identifiable routes for discussing an individual child's needs.

The Sensory Room contains gentle lighting, tactile materials and interactive resources, with both practitioner-guided activity and exploration led by children. It offers a different pace from the busier play rooms. Babies also have a sleep room, so rest has a designated space within their provision.

Meals are cooked daily by the nursery cook, with seasonal menus rotating over three weeks and a weaning menu for younger children. Special dietary needs and religious or cultural requirements are catered for, making the meal arrangements relevant across different ages and family circumstances.

Golden Grin Award Scheme participation centres on healthy eating and oral hygiene. Children aged two and above are encouraged to brush after lunch and tea, using individually stored toothbrushes in a Brush Bus; younger children receive help, while older children practise doing it themselves. The routine turns oral care into something children rehearse regularly, alongside the self-help skills encouraged at mealtimes.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Supertots operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas week. The opening window is broader than the standard full-day booking, so families should distinguish the hours the building operates from the session they choose.

A Full day runs from 8am to 6pm, while a Short day runs from 8.30am to 4pm. Morning is 8am to 1pm and Afternoon is 1pm to 6pm; Short Morning runs from 9am to noon, and Short Afternoon from 1pm to 4pm. Additional paid periods can extend attendance around the main sessions. This gives families materially different choices, including a shorter daytime pattern and separate morning or afternoon attendance.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01706 356 021 or by email to manager@supertots.co.uk. A non-refundable deposit is requested with the enrolment letter in the term before the child starts and credited against the first month's fee. Leaving requires four weeks' written notice; sickness and bank holidays are charged at the full rate.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding is delivered during term time over 38 weeks. The entitlements accommodated are Working Parent funding, 2 Year old funding for families receiving additional support, and Universal 3 and 4 year old funding. Eligibility conditions apply; working-parent codes must be renewed every three months.

The attendance structure is specific. A 15-hour entitlement can cover two short days from 8.30am to 4pm, five mornings from 9am to noon, or five afternoons from 1pm to 4pm. A 30-hour entitlement is used across four short days, each from 8.30am to 4pm. Additional hours are paid for separately, so the funded arrangement and the wider opening day need to be considered together.

Meals are charged separately during funded sessions: lunch or tea can be booked in advance, or parents can supply a healthy packed lunch in an insulated bag with an ice block. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page sets out attendance and payment terms.

• Independence and toilet access. In February 2022, older children sometimes had to ask staff for access to the toilet area, limiting their ability to respond promptly to their own needs. On a visit, ask how independent access works now across Rising 3's and Pre-school.
• A school-facing final year. Pre-school includes twice-daily language and literacy work, reading books and home activities. Consider how that structure fits your child, and discuss the balance between group learning and play during a visit.
• Funded attendance and meals. Funded hours follow fixed term-time patterns, with nursery meals charged separately. Compare the relevant pattern with your working week, including the paid hours needed around it.

Supertots suits families choosing between full days, shorter days and morning or afternoon attendance, especially those who value regular music, dance, sport and signing alongside play. Its baby sleep space, staged room progression and two-way parent communication give the practical offer substance. The more structured Pre-school year will appeal to parents wanting explicit preparation for school; the February 2022 independence concern remains a useful, concrete topic for a visit.